Election Symbol A Concern For BRS In Jubilee Hills

The State Election Commission today allotted symbols to registered parties and independent candidates contesting the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency by-election.

Cheppuri Raju of the Ambedkar National Party has been allotted the road roller as the symbol, while Amboju Budhaiah of the Alliance of Democratic Reforms Party has been given the chapathi roller.

The BRS had earlier appealed to the Election Commission to remove these symbols, expressing concern that voters might get confused since the symbols closely resembled the party's car symbol.

To address this, the EC will print colour photographs of the candidates on the ballot unit for this by-election. But the move is still seen as a setback for the BRS.

According to the ballot paper released by the EC, the BJP candidate Lankala Deepak Reddy (lotus) appears first, followed by the Congress candidate Naveen Yadav (hand) in the second place, and BRS candidate Maganti Sunitha Gopinath (car) in the third.

The Telugu Rajadhikara Samiti candidate has been allotted a soap dish (no 5), the Alliance of Democratic Reforms Party candidate a chapati roller (no 9), and the Ambedkar National Congress candidate a road roller (no 13).

The Praja Velugu Party candidate has been given a camera (no 21), the All India Majlis-E-Inquilab-E-Millat candidate a ship (no 28), and an independent candidate a TV (no 54).

Typically, a ballot unit accommodates 16 names, symbols and photographs, including the NOTA option. This means that in the first EVM, the car symbol of the BRS will appear alongside the soap dish (no 5), chapati roller (no 9), and road roller (no 13), which could potentially confuse voters. It remains to be seen how the BRS will overcome these challenges in the Jubilee Hills by-election, which it is keen to retain.

Meanwhile, the final list of candidates for the Jubilee Hills by-election has been released. Returning Officer Sai Ram announced that 58 candidates were in the fray for the November 11 by-election. A total of 211 nominations were filed, of which 81 were found valid. Subsequently, 23 candidates from various parties and several independents withdrew their nominations.

This marks the first time in the history of the Jubilee Hills Assembly constituency that such a large number of candidates are contesting. For context, 13 candidates contested in 2009, 21 in 2014, 18 in 2018, and 19 in 2023, when the BRS' Maganti Gopinath emerged victorious.